Research article summary (published 29 Jun 2001):

Improved performance in the Tower of London test following yoga.

Full Abstract

Twenty girls between 10 and 13 years of age, studying at a residential school were randomly assigned to two groups. One group practiced yoga for one hour fifteen minutes per day, 7 days a week, while the other group was given physical training for the same time. Time for planning and for execution and the number of moves required to complete the Tower of London task were assessed for both groups at the beginning and end of a month. These three assessments were separately tested in increasingly complex tasks requiring 2-moves, 4-moves and 5-moves. The pre-post data were compared using the Wilcoxon paired signed ranks test. The yoga group showed a significant reduction in planning time for both 2-moves and 4-moves tasks (53.9 and 59.1 percent respectively), execution time in both 4-moves and 5-moves tasks (63.7 and 60.3 percent respectively), and in the number of moves in the 4-moves tasks (20.9 percent). The physical training group showed no change. Hence yoga training for a month reduced the planning and execution time in simple (2-moves) as well as complex tasks (4, 5-moves) and facilitated reaching the target with a smaller number of moves in a complex task (4-moves).

Author information

Author/s: Manjunath, N K (NK); Telles, S (S);

Affiliation: Swami Vivekananda Yoga Research Foundation, City Office, # 9, 1st Main, Chamarajpet, Bangalore-560 018.

Journal and publication information

Publication Type: Clinical Trial; Journal Article; Randomized Controlled Trial

Journal: Indian journal of physiology and pharmacology (Indian J Physiol Pharmacol), published in India. (Language: eng)

Reference: 2001-Jul; vol 45 (issue 3) : pp 351-4

Dates: Created 2002/03/07; Completed 2002/08/16; Revised 2004/11/17;

PMID: 11881575, status: MEDLINE (last retrieval date: 2/18/2009, IMS Date: )

Sourced from the National Library of Medicine. Abstract text and other information may be subject to copyright.

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MeSH headings (categories)

This article was linked to the MESH Headings shown below.

Child Female Humans Neuropsychological Tests

Neuropsychological Tests Physical Fitness - physiology Psychomotor Performance - physiology Yoga - psychology

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